Texas State officially announced its 2014 recruiting class Wednesday morning, signing 27 players — 19 were high school players and eight were junior college transfers.

Bobcat head coach Dennis Franchione’s staff recruited over more than 17,500 miles to ink those players. Even with all that mileage, Texas State still kept the base of its recruiting in the home state, reeling in 17 players from the Lone Star State.

“The nucleus of this class will always come from this state,” Franchione said. “No doubt about that. “We made our deal here that we recruit California junior colleges because there are so many of them there. And we recruit the state of Texas.”

Aside from Texas, the Bobcats signed recruits from six other states: Arizona, California, Florida, Kansas, Mississippi and Virginia.

During the 2014 recruiting season, Franchione’s staff targeted defensive ends — signed eight defensive linemen — after losing the middle of last year’s defensive line to graduation (D.J. Yendrey and Blake McCulloch).

“As we looked at the Sun Belt and what we have to compete with on a year in, year out basis,” Franchione said. “We looked at UL-Lafayette and said, “OK, guys, when you go out to recruit if they can play in that, that’s what we’re looking for.”

Against the Ragin Cajuns last season, then-junior quarterback Terrance Broadway torched the Bobcats for 335 yards and four touchdowns.

Perhaps, that’s why Franchione was excited when he saw that Steven Eddings would be a Bobcat in 2014. The 6 foot 4, 285-pound defensive end out of Jones County Junior College in Mississippi had 38 tackles and two sacks last season.

It’s Eddings’ frame that impressed the fourth-year Bobcat coach.

“He’s another one of those guys that if he walked in the room, you’d say ‘Those are the kind of guys we need playing in this program to get to the top of this conference,’” Franchione said. “That was a great addition late in the class.”

When Texas State opens its regular season versus Arkansas-Pine Bluff at home, Franchione hopes this year’s class will be the final boost the Bobcats need to be one of the top teams in the SBC.

The 2014 class, which included the most early commitments the Bobcats have ever brought in during Franchione’s tenure, has given Texas State its best chance to do exactly that.

“Our roster is closer today, with this class, to an FBS roster as we’ve ever been,” Franchione said. “That’s a great feeling.”